Kotkhai rape-murder case: State not involved, only bunch of wealthy people influencing probe, says HP CM

Shimla- In Kotkhai gang-rape and murder case, police has detained two more suspects on Saturday, who were brought to the Rippon Hospital, Shimla for medical in the evening. With detainment of these suspects, the doubts over probe conducted by Special Investigation Team (SIT) have now intensified as earlier it had, in press conference held on Thursday, claimed that the case has been solved and all six accused were arrested.

The DGP, Somesh Goyal had confirmed that SIT has concrete and clinching evidences that are sufficient to establish the guilt of arrested culprits in court.

However, as public protest turned violent in Theog and SIT theory was questioned by media and majority of public for missing links, the Chief Minster ordered a CBI probe on Friday. On Saturday, police detained two more suspects against its claims of solving the case and arrest of all accused.

Meanwhile, the public protests continued all over Shimla. Students had called for complete boycott of classes in collages, while school students were also reported to have staged protests at different locations.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh also broke his silence and lashed out at the oppositions for giving the matter a political color. He blamed oppositions for organizing violent protest and making it an agenda for in vain. The protesters will be dealt with strictness if they tried to deteriorate law and order or obstruct the investigation again, he said.

Talking to media, he assured that justice will be done and culprits will be put behind bars. On being asked about involvement of government in alleged manipulation in the SIT investigation, the Chief Minister said,

The State is not involved in it. The crime was organized by a bunch of people who have earned ridiculous wealth either by axing forests or by growing apples.

Now the case is in the hands of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). If anyone has complaints, then he/she can go CBI, he further said.

On being asked about the four photos allegedly uploaded from his Facebook account, he said he has no knowledge about it. It’s nothing, he said, adding that these days people keep uploading anything on social media they want.

Posting of Four Photos on CM’s FB Page Was A Technical Error: Butail

The IT Advisor, Gokul Butail, on the other hand, has clarified that it was a technical error. He said the allegation are false, and there was no intention to fuel any sort of rumors.

The clarification came after the case was transferred to CBI after uproar over alleged conspiracy in SIT investigation to save some influential people involved in the heinous crime.

Foundation Stone of HP Central University in Kangra laid, Will Be Ready in 3 Years, Says Govt

Kangra-The foundation stone of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh at Dehra in Kangra district was laid today by the Union Human Resource Minister Prakash Javadekar and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

Prakash Javadekar said that the forest clearance for
construction of this University was also accorded when he was the Union Forest
and Environment Minister. The State Government deposited Rs 6 crore under CAMP
Act for forest clearance.

As per the official information released, the Central
University will have two campuses at two different locations. The first Campus
would be at Jadrangal near Dharamshala, which would be spread in an area of 750
hectares. The second campus would be
established at Dehra in an area of 287 hectares.

The Government said about Rs.1300 crore would be spent on construction of both these campuses and the same would be completed in the next three year, the government said. These campuses would be spread in an area of about 1000 hectare, making it one of the biggest University of the region.

The Government said that an amount of Rs.7044 crore was being spent on the education sector during the current financial year and a provision of Rs.7600 crore had been made for the next financial year.

Kinnaur- An avalanche along the India-China border in Namgya region of Kinnaur district on Wednesday killed one soldier of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles while five others were buried and still missing. The body of one soldier, who was identified as Rakesh Kumar (41) of Ghumarpur village, Shahtalai, Bilaspur district, has been recovered. The rescue operation was underway at the time of writing.

The district administration and Superintendent of Police, Kinnaur, confirmed the news.

Jawans of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and district police are carrying out an extensive search and rescue operation.

As per initial reports, which are not clear, about 10 jawans
of ITBP were hit by a massive avalanche at about 11 AM on Wednesday while they
were moving from one post to another. Five to six jawans were buried. Remaining
jawans rescued one of them who later died on the way to the hospital in Pooh.

Verification of more details is still awaited.

Himachal Pradesh: Operation underway to rescue 5 jawans trapped in snow after an avalanche hit them in Namgya region of Kinnaur district. pic.twitter.com/zqMslXBBgE